Lesson 5 | Don't miss it: identifying the main and supporting ideas
Paraphrasing: test the main point
Let’s now relate this lesson on discerning the main point to the task of paraphrasing. Very simply, writing a paraphrase can be a great tool for testing whether or not you know the main point of the text. If you find yourself thinking, “I know what it means, I just don’t know how to put it in my own words,” you probably do not understand the text as well as you suppose and there is still some work to be done. Here are a few questions that may help sort matters out.
- What key questions still linger?
- Are there terms the author uses that need to be clarified?
- Are there connections I have missed?
- Have I correctly identified all the supporting pieces?
- How does this unit fit into the larger context? (Review your outline)
Continue to press in to these details until you feel you can successfully restate the main point and its supporting ideas in your own words.
As was discussed in the previous lesson, writing a paraphrase provides a means for unpacking the links that connect ideas. Taking that a step further, your paraphrase should bring the main point to the fore and accurately show the primary and secondary supports in their proper roles.
Below is Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. How well do you think he captures the main and supporting points?
